


You're Such a Doll

by mmmrrrw



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Cursed Dolls, Humor, M/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-16
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-17 14:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2312894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmmrrrw/pseuds/mmmrrrw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren’s always had an interest in strange things, myths and horror thoughts, wonders of the world. Well, anyway, this is the odd story where Eren ends up buying a beautiful doll that just so happens to be cursed. Great thing to note, he has amazing friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey," she calls, her hands dirtied with crumbles and her tongue dashing out to lick away the sauce once held on her lip. Heads turn up, and Eren just knows that Armin’s going to scold Sasha about interrupting him later on. "Have you guys heard about it?"

It starts with a single mention. His childhood friend is rambling, quickly getting off topic from his lecture and allowing Eren's cousin, Sasha, to suddenly get the words out.

“Hey,” she calls, her hands dirtied with crumbles and her tongue dashing out to lick away the sauce once held on her lip. Heads turn up, and Eren just knows that Armin’s going to scold Sasha about interrupting him later on. “Have you guys heard about it?”

And Connie’s leaning forward, his interest peaked since he enjoys staying up to date on all the gossip. “Heard what?” he asks back, eyes over at her.

“About the doll,” she says, and when no ones gets it she sighs and rolls her eyes. “The cursed one? You know, the one that’s known to kill off its owners and stuff?”

There’s a few mutters of acknowledgement from their table, some nodding of their heads. Minus Eren, of course, who hasn’t heard a damn thing about this ‘doll.’

“God, Sasha,” comes a voice setting quite close to Armin. Jean has a sneer on his face and his cheek rests in his palm. “Don’t tell me you actually believe it’s cursed?”

“Well, what else could it be?” she replies, one eyebrow raised as she stares over at Jean.

“It’s just bull the creators told so they could get more buyers, obviously. There’s no such thing as a cursed doll.”

“Really?” Reiner starts, leaning over the lunch table to smirk at Jean. “Well then, why don’t you buy it and find out?”

It isn’t that hard to notice the way Jean’s body immediately stiffens, only allowing small amounts of tense to leave when he speaks.

“Are you stupid?” he remarks, his fingers twitching. “Like hell I’ll waste my money on that piece of shit.”

It’s Eren’s laugh that draws the attention to him. “Seriously, Jean?” He’s slowly meeting giggles now. “You’ve had no problem spending money on the stupidest shit before, what changed?”

“I’ve matured, unlike you, Eren,” he huffs. It draws laughs and snickers from all about their table.

Ymir practically can’t breath, and Krista’s dying as she struggles to calm herself.

“Fine then.” It’s the rush of the words that bring all eyes back onto Jean and his determined expression, eyebrows pulled together. “You buy it and find out then.” And his gaze is on Eren, daring him to deny.

He nearly stutters, but luckily catches himself, “I don’t have a death wish, you know!”

“C’mon, Eren!” It’s Ymir’s call, she’s got that dangerous smile on her face, “You like scary shit, anyway, don'tcha? What's the big deal if it’s a damn doll?”

“She’s right,” Reiner adds. “You wanna find out the secrets and the truth, don’t you? Hell, me and Bertholdt--” he throws his right arm around Bertholdt, pulling him close. “--we’ll even get the money for ya, won’t we?”

Bertholdt shrugs before nodding, his eyes meeting Eren in slight wonder.

“I - I, guess I can do it then,” and he doesn’t pay any mind to the stutter, instead he’s only thinking about how he’s about to get a damn doll, and possibly die from it. “Just remember if I’m dead, my stuff goes to Armin, don’t give _any_ of my shit to Jean or Ymir, I swear it,” his eyes locked on Armin, who snickers behind his hand, coughing afterward.

“Don’t worry, Eren, I’m sure you’ll live. Cursed dolls don’t exist, for sure.”

-

His green eyes are looking over the address written on a piece of notebook paper Sasha had given to him. Eren is currently in search of that one shop, that’s said to have the very doll in stock, but it should be known he isn’t that great at reading Sasha’s messy handwriting nor following directions for a street he’s never been on.

After the help of multiple strangers, he’s standing in front of a torn down and dusty looking shop. The glass windows are too dim to be seen through and he moves to enter. He has to push against the door three times before he stumbles inside, the bell dinging afterward.

The inside of it is creepy. Doll eyes seem to watch his every move as he wanders around the seemingly empty store, nearly complete dolls on one shelf and to the next are the few done.

None really catch his eye. They are disturbing and only seem to give the shop an eerie feeling. That is, until he spots one.

It’s a small and pale looking doll, and on their own, his hands move to rid its old clothing of the dust there. The doll has beautiful silver eyes, its black hair styled similar to that of his friend, Marco’s, but longer and strangely better looking.

Eren recognizes immediately that it is male, and for some reason, he feels that this doll is gorgeous and that he could make use of it.

Besides, it isn't like the cursed doll is actually here, and even if it is, it isn't like the owner happens to be here to point that tiny bit out to him.

He can just say that this is the very doll instead. After all, none of his friends have even seen what the thing looks like.

Eren leans closer to it, shifting the doll from side to side, curiously, when he hears the loud noise of feet sound ridiculously close to him. He turns, almost dropping the doll in his hands.

The person is staring on at him, then to the doll in his hands, then back.

“Uh, sorry, I was looking. Is this one… not to be sold?” He tries to hide his disappointment at the thought, but he doesn’t think he does much of a good job at it.

“No,” the person - woman, says, “he is for sale, would you like him?”

“Yeah, how much?” Eren asks, following the woman as she moves to the counter.

“Depends,” she smiles, “you want the info that comes with him? Or just him?”

“Info, I guess.” He doesn’t see anything wrong with learning about the thing.

“Alright-o!” She cheers, jumping up before calling to him, “Stay there for a bit, I’ll be right back!” She disappears just a quick as she can speak.

Eren is a little thrown off by her sudden enthusiasm.

When she returns, she quickly rings Eren up, giving back his change and then the small info guide.

“Make sure to read it!” she yells, sternly, giving Eren a serious look.

He nods, and then he’s gone back home, looking at the doll with something weird stirring about him.

-

The first thing he does is head back to his room. He doesn’t want to get caught by his mother or father, knowing that they’ll question not the doll, but where he got the money for it, and money always leads into lectures.

He sets the stand up, placing the doll in it and then moving to rip open the package for the guide. When he gets that out, he looks over it only to see something so short and simple.

_Levi._

The guide is just a blank sheet of paper with a single word on it, and Eren isn’t sure what it means or what he’s to do with it.

“Levi…?” he wonders, his brows furrowed as he looks back up at the doll. "Is that your name, maybe?" Eren decides that it fits him, at least. “Alright then, Levi. I’m Eren, your owner from now on.”

The moment that his introduction leaves his mouth, Eren facepalms. He honestly can’t believe that he’s talking to a fucking doll, and yet just for the hell of it, he continues.

It was normal, after all, wasn’t it? Making conversation with stuffed animals wasn’t strange, so why would this be?

Eren shakes his head and sighs. “I promise I’ll take care of you, okay?”

He doesn’t get a response back, obviously, and the only sound that comes out later is his own yawn as he gets ready for bed.

-

The room is dark and there’s a small creak in the left corner, a few steps far from Eren’s bed that he sleeps in.

Those silver eyes shine.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I got this idea a few days back and it's heavily based off a manga I once read, I wanted to write my own version of it, so here we are.
> 
> Also to mention that there's probably plenty of mistakes currently and I'll check back another time since I'm kinda tired atm, it's also somewhat rushed if you can't tell, but I like it so whatever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sasha!” Connie whispers, his movements jerky as he tries to get a good look at her on his back. “Quiet! You’ll wake my mom!”

“You brought ‘im?” comes the voice hidden in the darkness, and there’s an awful creak of the door as it pulls open slightly, allowing the shine of one hazel eye to be seen. There is the thump of heavy footsteps and a brown eye appears above.

“Connie,” Eren sighs, his bag slung on his shoulder and he holds a hand to his waist, looking at that single hazel eye in disappointment. “This is seeming like one of those cliché drug deals in the movies.”

“Shh,” the eye whispers, staring back at Eren. “It’s for dramatic effect, go with it.”

And Eren just rolls his eyes, pushing the rest of the door open and allowing the bright sunlight to shine upon Sasha and Connie.

“No!” he cries, throwing his hands over his eyes. Sasha does the same, though with only one, looking seriously affected by it; ah, the perks of her drama class. “It burns!”

Sasha screams, eyes seeming watery with emotion. “Eren,” she calls looking at him, pleading, “shut the door!”

Eren lifts a brow, obviously not new to their actions. He shuts the door, one hand held on his bag strap as he shakes his head.

“Sasha!” Connie whispers, his movements jerky as he tries to get a good look at her on his back. “Quiet! You’ll wake my mom!”

“No, no!” she cries, attempting to grip back onto Connie’s shoulders. “Stop moving! I’ll fall!”

And fall they do, onto the floor. Footsteps are heard from upstairs until Ms. Springer is standing in front of the three, rubbing a hand to her forehead, and then looking up to Eren with a small smile.

That smile is not given to either Connie or Sasha as she turns her eyes towards them.

Connie gulps. Sasha gives a nervous smile and a wave.

-

After the wonderful encounter with Ms. Springer, the three are left in Connie’s room. Sasha in her colorful decorated pajamas and Connie in a simple tank top and sweatpants. Eren is left in his jeans and a plain black shirt.

As it was, Connie had given Eren quite the call the day after he’d officially bought Levi, (he’d sent a text to each of those in their group to let them know) and the call was full of demands for him to bring the doll over so everyone could see. There may have been some screaming… or a lot of it.

“Where’s Jean?” Eren asks, looking back at Sasha as she moves around restlessly on the floor. Itching to see the doll, probably.

“He’ll be here, I sent Reiner over.” Connie smiles, evil nearly. Since it was a Saturday, Jean had a habit of sleeping all the way to one in the afternoon if possible, and only Reiner has been the most successful in waking him up so far.

“What do you think he’ll do this time?” Sasha questions, knowing most of Reiner’s tactics.

“‘Said he’d just go for using ice water this time.” Connie says, moving for the television remote.

He does, if that’s anything to say about it.

“I’m going to fucking murder you, Eren!” Jean yells, shivering at just the memory as he paces Connie’s room.

There is no mention of how this is nowhere near Eren's fault, so Eren just gives Jean an exasperated look.

Reiner snorts. “Hey, it wasn’t that bad.”

Jean directs his glare to Reiner, and the blond immediately raises his hands, still laughing.

Ymir looks over. “Pretty sure the doll will beat you there, Jeany-boy.” Then, she adds, “Y’know, if Eren here didn’t chicken out and actually bought it.”

“Well, Eren?” Krista asks, looking over, curiously. “Where is it?”

He grumbles something under his breath and everyone seems to pause to watch as he digs into his bag, and carefully brings out the doll.

“Wow!” Sasha exclaims, moving close. “It’s really pretty!”

“I’m surprised,” Jean says as he presses a finger to the doll’s dark hair. “I didn’t think you’d actually get it.”

“Well, I’m not a coward, unlike you.” Eren smirks, seemingly pleased for the moment.

Jean scoffs, “Yeah, well this ‘coward’ won’t be dead by tomorrow at least.”

“As if, Armin said it himself that cursed dolls aren’t real, and you know Armin’s word is the truth.”

Armin looks up from his book, sighing.

“I’m glad you trust me so much, Eren,” he says, looking sincere. “But I don’t believe they’re real because of the lack of proof. It isn’t likely to be true, but there’s only so much we know.”

There’s a long, drawn-out pause and Eren is frozen still. He is still smiling, but now it just seems more dead inside.

“Armin…” he whispers sadly.

Armin only shrugs and goes back to reading his book.

-

After endless prodding and snarky sentences, Eren arrives back home, taking notice of the note from his parents (ah, they were out for dinner, seems he’ll have to call for pizza then) as he makes his way to his room.

He exhales loudly, shutting the door and digging into his bag to take hold of the doll. He stares at it a bit, tugging on the old clothing, feeling displeased with it.

Compared to the flawless-looking pale skin of the doll, the rags are dark and harsh. His pink lips seem tainted by the filth, stained with the roughness of that old, torn-down shop where Eren had bought him.

Eren thought he deserved better - no, he knew that Levi deserved better, and no doll of his was going to be left dressed like a thug off the street.  


It’s at next morning's breakfast that an idea hits him, deepening his thoughts of Levi as he begins to speak to his mother.

“Hey, mom,” he calls, and she pauses her conversation with Grisha, giving her son a hum. “You can sew and stuff, right?”

“Well, yes,” she says, sounding confused. “Why? Did you rip your jeans again? I’ve told you, Eren, there’s no need to wear pants that are too tight on--”

“No!” he shouts, embarrassed. His father gives him a stern look, silently reminding him of his place, and Eren sighs. “I mean: no, ma’am. I haven’t… ripped any of my jeans.” His voice lowers to a mumble towards the end, and Eren rubs a finger at his cheek nervously.

“Oh,” Carla says, unfazed. “Then what is it?”

“Have you ever made, like,” he swallows hard, “…doll clothes?”

His mother perks up immediately at the question. “Of course! My mama always bought me so many dolls and stuffed toys, you know? I would play dress up with them so often that she taught me how to make cute little dresses and things for them,” she almost squeals, but holds back the little noise and instead sighs with fondness at the memory. “But what exactly would you want with doll clothes? You’ve donated all your toys, haven’t you?”

“Uh, yeah,” he answers. “It’s not for me. One of my friends’ birthday is coming up and she’s a bit of a doll hoarder… I thought she’d like some cool clothes for them.”

“Aw, how sweet of you! If that’s the case, you should help me make them so it’ll be straight from the heart!”

Eren looks up, startled. “I-I don’t know if that’s…”

“Nonsense. You hardly any spend any time with me anymore. It’ll be fun, believe me! When’s your friend’s birthday?”

“The Monday after next,” he lies, not quite sure how he can get himself out of this one.

“Great! We’ll go shopping for fabrics next week.” Carla smiles and ruffles Eren’s hair.

-

Eren’s hands move, twisting the fabric slightly, and then he turns back to the desk, searching for the crown he’d misplaced. “Oh, right,” he mutters to himself after catching view of the item, placing the piece on top of Levi’s head. Afterwards he takes the doll version robe, moving Levi’s hands through it and patting the fluff of it down.

“You look like a prince,” he says, watching Levi and finding that the royal-like clothing fits him better than the old worn down ones from before.

It was rather plain, though. Eren was rather impatient to get those rags off of Levi as soon as possible. So after taking a few measurements, Eren went to the mall and looked about for around an hour until he found something that looked alright.

Now, Eren wasn’t a clothing designer by any means, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t be picky.

Like hell was he going to get something out of style and of horrible quality, but that didn’t mean it was perfect.

It was a bit of cheap fabric, but it wasn’t falling apart and it would do for now.

-

The doll tilts his head, looking at his new clothing. He manages to move his arm to feel it.

Soft… he thinks, moving those shining silver eyes to the person snoring on his bed, and then he stills once again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone interested, the manga is Lover's Doll. You won't really spoil yourself reading it since the plot isn't going to follow it to a tee.
> 
> Levi and Eren will interact more later on, hopefully.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You guys talk about my death so simply,” Eren sighs.
> 
> “It’s okay, Eren!” Sasha chips in. “Me and Connie would miss you. Oh, and Armin and Mikasa, too!”

It's not that strange that Eren has a desire to sleep forever. His bed is warm and he will not risk stepping out of it and into the Antarctic by any chance.

Except that his mother will probably scold him for sleeping in late, so he's left with no choice as he sits there on the edge of his bed. With a yawn escaping him, he moves to a stand and passes his desk to head over to his door. He mumbles low, “Mornin’, Levi,” before the door shuts with a click and Eren's on his way to the bathroom.

The doll's eyes glance over at the close door, checking it once, twice, before turning back to the unmade bed before him. He's a bit more than displeased with it.

When Eren arrives back, he's with a towel around his waist and one to his head to dry up the droplets of water falling from his dark hair, and he sighs, moving to his closet so he may choose his clothing, and ends up going with something quite plain, setting his clothes on his made bed.

He doesn't notice the nearly wrinkle-free sheets until he's without only his dark-green colored hoodie, and when he does, he pauses and then guesses Carla must have made his bed for him. Although he hadn't heard her head up the stairs at all… and it was pretty hard not to with those few noticeable squeaks on the boards of the steps.

He doesn't think about it much.

-

“Morning, hun,” Carla greets him, and Eren yawns again, then mumbles back a reply.

“Oh, by the way,” he says, watching as Carla moves to take a sit at the table. She looks up at him with a smile. “Thanks for making up my bed for me, I swear I'll do it next time myself.”

He gets a confused look in return.

“Is something wrong?” Eren asks back, seeing the strange expression.

“No,” she replies, not giving much off as she quickly places a small smile back onto her face. Although, really, Carla has no memory of heading to Eren's room yet. “Oh, right! I forgot to mention to you, Mikasa and her family just arrived back from their vacation last night.”

“Really?” Eren asks, excitement bubbling inside him. He hadn't seen Mikasa in a full month, her family taking off to another country and them not keeping in contact much because of the shitty type of internet Mikasa had. It was a hard thing to hang out without her, as Eren would always catch himself making a joke or seeing something that he’d just die to see the reaction of it from Mikasa. Armin missed her just as much, complaining how he had to be the mother hen to keep Eren in control while Mikasa was gone.

Eren doesn’t think he’s that stubborn, though.

Armin says otherwise, however.

“Yes,” Carla continues, “she doesn't plan to head to class today. She’s going to sleep in so she'll get back on schedule. The Ackermans plan to come over for dinner, so you and Mikasa can catch up then.”

“Let me guess…” Eren says, standing with his empty plate in hand; he sets it in the sink, “you’re gonna do a fancy kind of dinner, aren’t you? You know they like us just fine. There's no need to impress them.”

Eren cocks his head, hands on his hips at the unimpressed look his mother gives him. “Dear, Mrs. Ackerman's casserole has beaten mine so much already, I’m not going down without a fight.” She stands, setting her plate in the sink, as well. It’s obvious who Eren gets his stubbornness from. “I’m counting on your vote, don’t fail me.”

“That depends on what you’re offering,” Eren smiles cheekily.

“If my own son doesn’t vote for me, well, I’m just a disappointment, aren’t I?” she huffs, ruffling his hair and ushering him to get his school bag. “We’ll be late at this rate, go get your things while I start the car.”

-

“Any spooky happenings yet, Eren?” Connie asks curiously.

“Heard any screams in your home?” Reiner chimes in.

“I think I saw some red shit on your bag this morning,” Ymir laughs.

“Actually, Ymir, Eren spilled his drink on his bag in first period…” Krista adds in.

“Do you think the doll will get hungry?” Sasha wonders.

Eyes turn to her.

“What?” she squeaks. “Just curious.”

“If it does…” Bertholdt mumbles, more to himself than anyone.

“ _If it does_ ,” Jean continues, “do you think it’ll feast on your blood?”

“I’m unscratched, dickwad,” Eren finally speaks up. “It’s been a few days now, there’s no way the doll is actually cursed.”

“We never gave a time limit, Jaeger.”

“Evidence still proves that so far, you were just a coward.”

“ _So far_ ,” Jean stresses.

“Did you bring it today?” Sasha asks.

“No, I left him at home.”

“Next time you should,” Krista says, “Thomas and Mina from 3rd period said they wanted to see.”

“He’s _not_ a damn zoo animal,” Eren mutters.

“But what if it gets lonely when you leave it alone?” Connie says, not paying an ounce of attention to the words Eren had just said. “Social interaction, Eren!”

“And how would that work?” Ymir snorts. “Play dollhouse with it or some shit?”

“That’s a good idea!” Sasha squeals.

“What?”

“I have this large, old dollhouse my mom gave me when I was younger,” Krista says. “You could fix it up and use it for the doll, if you’d like.”

“It was a joke,” Ymir mutters, but no one spares her a glance as they speak on.

“You guys act as if Eren’s gonna keep the thing, or better yet, survive with it,” Jean speaks up. “You’re forgetting that it’s a cursed doll, not some playhouse type, or even one for dress-up.”

“Well…” Krista muses, “if he’s gonna die, he should at least have fun before it, right?”

“Exactly,” Reiner agrees.

“You guys talk about my death so simply,” Eren sighs.

“It’s okay, Eren!” Sasha chips in. “Me and Connie would miss you. Oh, and Armin and Mikasa, too!”

Connie looks over to Sasha and then Eren, his hand deep in Eren’s lunch box.

Eren stares at him blankly.

Connie slowly pulls his hand back, but not without a bag of chips. He opens them and throws a chip at Sasha, who catches it in her mouth effortlessly.

“I’d miss you a lot, bud,” Connie finally says.

Eren groans. “I hate you both.”

-

“You left me alone with them,” Eren mutters, face planted on a wooden table in the library. “How betraying can you be?”

“I had to study, Eren,” Armin explains, nose deep in a textbook and his notes spread out on the table.

“Besties before testies, what ever happened to that?” Eren sulks.

“There was never a such thing.” Armin looks up, sighing. “Thank goodness there never was.”

“Am I annoying you?”

“Why are you not preparing for the exams for this semester?” Armin wonders, ignoring the previous question. “You barely passed last year.”

“Ugh,” he groans. “Don’t remind me.”

“Let me guess: you’re just gonna cram the night before after borrowing my notes, aren’t you?”

“Perhaps,” Eren mulls it over.

“ ‘Perhaps,’ ” Armin mocks. “Mikasa will kill you if you do.”

“Oh, Mikasa,” Eren realizes, “she’s back home today.”

“She isn’t at school?”

“Sleeping in.”

“Makes sense.”

“Wanna eat dinner with us?” Eren asks.

“Did you get Carla’s permission?”

“Votes,” Eren explains.

“Not sure,” Armin hums, “I might go for Mrs. Ackerman’s. Remember that cherry pie from two months ago? Like a dream.”

“Don’t let Mom hear you say that, you traitor.”

“Don’t kid me, Eren,” Armin smiles. “You love cherry pies.”

“She has Mikasa working with her to get my weaknesses, the fairness is nonexistent.”

“ ‘That so?” Armin says. “Anything new with the doll?”

“His name’s Levi.”

“You named it?” Armin looks up from his book, furrowing his eyebrows.

“No, the name came with the doll.”

“And you’re using it?”

“Why not.” Eren shrugs, “It suits him anyway, don’t you think?”

“I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been around it much.” Armin closes his textbook after checking the clock. He begins to put away his notes into his folder and then bag. “I noticed you keep referring to the doll as a guy, why do you do that?”

“Well, he looks like a male doll, doesn’t he?”

“Well, yes,” Armin answers, “but the way you talk about him almost makes it seem like you think he’s real or something.”

“You’re thinking too much into it, Armin.” Eren taps him on the head. “C’mon, I wanna stop at the yogurt place before we’re thrown into the food arena.”

“You’ll spoil your appetite.” Armin says, but Eren is already running off, so he sighs and hurries after him. “Eren!”

-

“Back,” he mutters, throwing his bag off into the right corner behind his door that he shuts afterward. He yawns a bit, stretching when his eyes catch Levi, who stands in the same spot.

“That’s rude,” he says, pausing in front of the doll and sitting. “You didn’t welcome me back, did you?” he gives a cheeky grin. “Just kidding.”

“I’ve got exams upcoming, you know? Armin - best friend of mine, blond and stuff, you’ve seen him - yeah, he scolded me about them through last period, can you believe it? I haven’t studied ‘cause I’m busy, that’s all.” Eren leans back on his hands, squeezing at the carpeted floor. “Also, you’re getting a house or something. Another friend of mine, Krista, is gonna give it to you. I’m gonna try and decorate it so it’ll fit your clothing, so royalty-like maybe? Would you like that?”

No response.

“I’m gonna do it anyway,” he sighs. “Mikasa came home today. I don’t know if I should tell her about you. She’d probably freak.”

There’s not even a “probably” in that answer, really. She’d definitely freak.

“Maybe I’ll just leave the ‘curse’ part out?” Eren ponders, he saves the thought for later. “So did you do anything, Levi? Were you lonely without me?” Eren smiles a bit at the thought. “You weren’t. ‘Cause you’re just a doll,” he hums.

“Eren, they’re here!” his mother calls, startling the brunet out of his one-sided conversation.

“Guess I’ll talk with you later then,” Eren decides, heading out of the room and turning off his room lights.

At the sound of the shutting door, the doll turns just a bit to stare at it a while, his silver eyes bright as he thinks. It seems he was strangely a bit lonely without the human’s presence, after all.

-

“I thought I was so close,” Carla mutters, and Grisha moves to pull her into his arms, but Carla pushes him away. “Don’t touch me, you traitor.”

“There was cranberry, I’m not sure what you expected me to do,” Grisha insists, opening his arms wider.

“Betrayed by my own husband, honestly,” she wipes a fake tear, “Mikasa is the only good one here.”

Mikasa half-smiles at the compliment.

“You’re forgetting your own son,” Eren adds, but Carla squeezes Mikasa into a hug when giving him a glare.

“Don’t speak, traitor,” Carla mutters.

-

“You’re such a suckup,” Eren says.

“Says the kid who didn’t vote for their own parent,” Mikasa bounces back as she climbs up the stairs with Eren in tow.

“You did the same,” Eren counters, and they enter his room arguing about the voting. Eren in the middle of proving Mikasa wrong when she suddenly stops talking midway and stares the other way. “What is it?” Eren asks, turning the same way.

Oh, shit.

“Eren…” Mikasa says, walking over to the desk. “When’d you get this doll?”

Eren did not prepare an excuse yet.

“Few days ago,” he utters.

“You like dolls?” she wonders. “Since when?”

“It’s a current… uh, interest.”

“I see,” Mikasa says, taking a seat in front of Levi. “Did you give him a name?”

“You say him…” he says instead, taking a seat next to her.

“Yeah, he looks like a guy, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, he does.” Eren smiles. “His name’s Levi.”

“Does Armin know about him?”

Eren nods. “I’m getting a dollhouse for him, from, uh, Krista.”

“The old one we saw in her attic before?”

“Yeah.”

“He has pretty clothes.”

“Thanks, I picked them out myself.”

Mikasa turns silent, watching the doll before she reaches forward, but right before she can pick Levi up, Eren takes hold of him.

He holds the doll to his chest, almost like one would hold something precious to them.

Mikasa gives him a confused look.

“I…” He’s acting so weird, Eren has no idea why. “I don’t want you to touch him.”

“Okay,” Mikasa says simply.

“Why don’t we talk about what your vacation was like?” Eren wonders, standing up just as Mikasa does. He sets Levi back in place and heads over to sit on his bed with Mikasa.

“Well first off, it was really fucking cold,” Mikasa grins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahaha, wow… this has not been updated in long, has it? anyway, i think i'm getting the hang of that slow build thing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a complete stranger in ripped clothing sitting in the back of his closet, looking like a guilty child caught eating dessert before dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited the previous chapters, so I'd definitely recommend re-reading those before this chapter; especially since it's taken me so long to update. Let's hope that doesn't happen again and I actually finish this story this year.

“Ooh! What about this one? This one is so cute! God, I just love this section!” Carla squeals happily, running about like a child.

“Mom,” Eren sighs. “Can we just choose already? It’s getting late…”

“Oh, shush.” Carla turns on him and scolds him lightly. “Now, it’s only three in the afternoon. What could you possibly have to do?”

“Stuff…” he mumbles.

“Right,” she huffs. “Now, if you want to speed this up, why don’t you do something useful and tell me about this friend of yours so we can get an idea what kind of clothing she’d like.”

It takes a lot for Eren to keep walking at the command, but he swallows hard and sucks it up.

“She wants something…” he looks about, thinking, “something fancy.”

Carla hums and nods, before running off again. She appears a second or so later with a rough-looking green fabric. “How about this?”

Eren scrunches up his nose. “No, that wouldn’t fit him,” he answers.

His mother lowers the cloth and tilts her head. “Fit who?”

Eren’s eyes widen as he catches his mistake. “Fit… him. Her doll,” he explains, and it seems to be enough for her, since Carla heads off again for some more fitting cloths.

They finish their shopping around four, and are back home in less than thirty minutes after what Eren would call a semi-productive trip.

Now, they sat on the living floor with new needles and threads, the fabrics all spread about. Both of their legs criss-cross applesauce, Carla is explaining part of the process to Eren and allowing him to string a needle for her while he listens.

It takes some time, but he gets it done and Carla can’t help but grin at the small victory smile Eren gives her.

“Alright, what next?”

He feels like he can take on the world.

“Then you just pull it through the fabric like this and tie a good knot here…” she explains again for him. “Repeat that until you finish that section, then I’ll start you on the next.”

They make a total of two new outfits before Grisha returns home and Carla has to go start on dinner. Eren takes the clothing upstairs with him along with his war scars, rather pleased by their progress.

“Levi!” he says cheerfully, shutting the room to his door and approaching the little doll left on his desk. “Right where I left you. Do you ever get out?” he jokes.

Eren sets the bag of supplies behind his door before pulling out the two outfits that he and Carla made.

“I hope you like them, they’re handmade. With all my blood and tears,” he says. “Mostly my blood. I fucking hate those needles,” he adds with a chuckle, setting them on his desk beside the doll.

The sound resonates within the quiet space, and slowly the smile drops from Eren’s face. He had never really considered it before, but standing around like this… talking to himself this way - he wonders if he is going insane?

It wasn’t as if this were his first time speaking aloud to himself, he’d always had a habit of speaking his mind, even to himself, but what was different about this was… he felt like he had a listener. A real one, for once.

Frowning at the thought, Eren bends down and gives the doll a suspicious look.

“If you can hear me, give me a sign, Levi.” He says it in a low voice, almost as if he doesn’t want anyone to hear it, not even himself.

The doll only stares blankly, realistic but undoubtedly not real, and Eren can’t help the little disappointment that seems to sit in the pit of his stomach. He straightens up and steps back, giving the doll a side-eyed look before heading back downstairs for dinner.

  
-

  
The blackness that suddenly engulfs his vision elicits a small noise out of the doll, startling him. Levi opens his eyes again, feeling a tad foolish from scaring himself, but after years of standing stiff on a counter, waiting to be sold again and again, he was allowed a little surprise at gaining these abilities again, wasn’t he?

He opens his mouth and moves his jaw, hearing it crack in a satisfying way, something he’d not been able to do for months now.

A loud, shameless snore draws his attention away from his movements, however, and he goes deathly still as he looks over to the occupied bed.

He hadn’t realized that Eren was still here, and while he was used to trying to be active while the boy slept… this was unexpected.

He watches Eren a while longer, worry making his throat feel dry, before looking down to the right side of him, where two outfits still, undisturbed.

The first is old-looking with puffy sleeves inlaid with gold strings and a rich purple shirt, fit for a king. The pants are a lighter shade of purple, with white curled around the waistline and a makeshift black belt for decoration.

Levi admires the effort put into the design, but as his gaze travels onto the next, he finds that he prefers the more modern style of clothing.

The second is a formal look, with a black suit vest, white undershirt and gray tie to suit his pale complexion. But there are obvious mistakes within the fabric, stray holes you can strain your eyes for and tight needle-work that doesn’t go unnoticed, but Levi focuses on how much time it must have took, how many times Eren must have had to start over, and his heart - the one he remembers that he has - warms, beats.

He wiggles his fingers, itching to touch Eren’s handy work, and urges his legs to move with painful reluctance. It is more movement than he’d experienced with his previous owners, but after years of no use, it is still difficult to begin with.

But Levi has no doubt that that would change soon enough with all the care Eren seems to be giving him. The love is all he needs to function, and everyday, Levi can feel himself growing stronger.

He works out the stiffness in his doll-state and then sits down on the hardwood desk, letting his tiny fingers run along the smooth fabric of his clothing. With it comes a hot feeling that flows throughout his body, giving him the warmth that he has lacked with all these years, and Levi blinks in surprise before trying - hurriedly, he may add - to force it back down.

He knew right away what was happening, even after all the years without the feeling. Normally Levi would feel gleeful, eager to give his new owner a proper introduction, but after so many years going through the same thing and then being given away… he didn’t want to risk it.

Levi feared that Eren wasn’t ready to meet him just yet, but the world seemed to think otherwise.

And there was nothing he could do about that.

-

  
Eren woke up with a loud groan to the sound of his alarm screaming in the otherwise silent room. It was settled across the room, on his shelf by his bedroom door, which was an annoying task as he’d have to leave his bed to turn it off… but that was the point. How else was he going to wake up?

Groaning, he crawls out of bed and forces himself to walk across the room to turn his phone’s alarm off. The quiet that comes with the lack of alarm tempts him to return to bed, but he sucks it up and leaves the room to shower.

When he returns, towel wrapped around his waist and his damp hair dripping down onto his shoulders, he heads over to his dresser to pick out some underwear. He slips the pair of boxers on quick, almost feeling shy at the idea of dressing in front of Levi even after all the times he’d done so thus far.

It was similar to the feeling of having a pet dog follow you around, watching you no matter what you did. It was just awkward, and Eren always felt embarrassed.

He glances over shyly at his desk, as if he expects to see Levi staring at him, only to find nothing there.

Panic surfaces inside of Eren, but he calms himself down before he can even think about voicing any of the thoughts running through his head.

Did his parents find and take Levi? If so, was it his mother or his father? God, he hoped it was his mother; it’d be way easier to explain if it was.

He shakes his head, in doing so wetting the area around him with the small droplets of water from his hair, and heads over to his closet to pick out his clothes for the day.

Eren opens the small storage unit, only to find it in an array of mess, with clothes’ hangers and shoes thrown all about.

Eren knew he was messy, but he was never _this_ messy.

He wonders if someone had gone through his closet, looking for something, and then he wonders who it could have been as he searches through his clothes.

It’s just as Eren picks out a dark blue shirt that he hears what sounds like a grunt, a very, very humanly grunt.

“What the fuck?” he mutters under his breath. Eren pushes back the remaining hung clothes from the left side of his small closet, and even in the dark, he catches sight of movement against the wall.

Eren shifts to the side and allows the room light to shine deeper into the closet, and in doing so, he goes very still.

There is a complete stranger in ripped clothing sitting in the back of his closet, looking like a guilty child caught eating dessert before dinner.

But the catch is that he is really no stranger. No, Eren has seen him before, has had one-sided conversations with him many times.

“Le… vi?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If he wasn’t afraid for his life at the moment, Eren most likely would have questioned it. But instead, he focuses on pleading for his life and trying to remind his doll of all the good times they’ve had and how much care he’s shown him, and _all of the reasons why Levi should not kill him._

There are a lot of excuses that catch themselves on the tip of Eren’s tongue as he stares into his dim closet. There are a lot of explanations that come to him as well, but in his state of alertness, he knows each and every one of them to be false.

He straightens up and sucks in a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he opens them and still sees Levi staring at him with wide silver eyes, he pinches himself. It fails too, and he makes a move to shut his closet door when the intruder inches away from the corner he’s nudged himself into and towards Eren.

All of a sudden he is hit with the memories of what his cousin had said and what his friends had relentlessly joked about.

Eren has to cover his mouth to muffle his shout of fear, and he jerks back in hurry, leaving his closet halfway open as he makes a run to his room door. Before he can make it, though, something undeniably human-like grabs his wrist and is throwing him back with a strange amount of strength.

He grunts and backs away steadily on the floor, wincing when he lands on his injured side. When he looks up he can see Levi begin to approach him slowly, and with him now in plain sight Eren knows without doubt that this is his doll, his Levi, coming for him.

He lower lip quivers and his hands grip tight at the carpeting of his room. Levi stops in front of him, and he speaks in a stammering manner, eyes wide, “Please don’t kill me!”

Levi’s expression quickly changes from that of blank to one of utter fear.

If he wasn’t afraid for his life at the moment, Eren most likely would have questioned it. But instead, he focuses on pleading for his life and trying to remind his doll of all the good times they’ve had and how much care he’s shown him, and _all of the reasons why Levi should not kill him._

Eren doesn’t know if it has worked or not, because in the middle of his begging his eyes are squeezed shut tight and his words and racing heartbeat has drowned out any other sound in the room.

Slowly, he opens his eyes, and what he sees makes him blink twice.

 

-

  
Levi can’t speak. All the English he has picked up over the years and his time with Eren has left him when he is faced with the sight of another person seeing him as nothing more than a monster. A killer.

An ache runs through his body, and Levi can only wonder how long the magic will allow him to roam in this form this time. When he looks down at Eren, who has his hands up in a feeble attempt to defend himself, he concludes that it won’t last long.

He clenches his fists tight and turns his head away, sliver eyes shining with pain. For the first time in so long someone had begun to treat him with care once more, and already he has ruined it for himself. He bites his lip hard and forces himself to sit down on the floor in front of Eren, who apparently can’t even bring himself to look at Levi now.

Is he that hideous?

His creator had tried to hard to make him as human-looking as possible, but perhaps even that was not enough.

Sucking in a deep breath, one clouded with oncoming tears, Levi looks up from the floor to Eren once more, hoping to appreciate his owner for the last time before he is thrown away once more.

What he gets instead is a confused yet concerned look from Eren, whose eyes are distrusting yet his hands are lowered. Almost as if he is willing to give Levi a chance?

No, no. He shouldn’t get his hopes up.

Levi unclenches his fists and releases his lower lip. Then he attempts to make himself smaller, trying his hardest to show Eren that he is not a threat. For a moment, he thinks his effort is worthless, but then Eren speaks in that caring tone of his that Levi has had the privilege to hear for so little time.

“Your lip,” he says, voice quiet. Levi frowns and tilts his head. Eren seems to get the picture even without the verbal hint of confusion. “Your lip is bleeding.”

And then he goes further than before by touching Levi’s lip with his pointer finger. The touch is gentle, as if Eren knows what it feels like to further damage one’s wounds.

He probably does, unlike Levi.

When Eren pulls his finger away, a small wisp of steam appears as the blood on his finger evaporates and the same happens for the small amount lingering on Levi’s lip. When it clears, there is no visible wound.

Eren, who had briefly calmed down, begins to freak out once more. He jumps and then curses when he lands on his still hurt side.

Levi feels a tickling sensation within his stomach, but he quickly quells it when he registers more of his own faults. He takes a moment to crack his jaw and think before he speaks for the first time. “I’m sorry.”

Eren’s bright eyes widen and his previous focus on his injury disappears from his mind completely. Then he begins to stutter, and whether it be from amazement or something else, Levi isn’t sure.

He just continues talking in hopes that his words will ease some of Eren’s worries. “I didn’t mean to throw you earlier. It’s been too long since I’ve been in this form…” he looks away, feeling sheepish, “that I didn’t know the limits of my strength. I promise it won’t happen again.” _If you even decide to keep me around anymore_ , he thinks bitterly.

The room goes silent abruptly and Levi worries until Eren speaks up, “What do you want with me? Why won’t you let me leave?”

The fearful tone is back in his voice, though Levi can tell that Eren is trying to sound confident.

“I’m not trying to hold you hostage here,” he answers. “I just didn’t want you to freak out.”

“You sure did a damn good job at handling that.”

Levi closes his eyes and lowers his head. “I’m sorry.”

 

-

 

Eren eyes the intruder warily, despite feeling - somewhere deep inside of him - that Levi really won’t hurt him. He raises his hand and rubs at the nape of his neck, feeling guilty.

The feeling itself makes him feel stupid. He’s an inanimate object, for fuck’s sake. Or at least, he was. He shouldn’t be caring whether or not he hurts Levi feelings, especially since he was injured because of him.

But Eren quickly realizes the faults in his logic. After all, hasn’t he cared for Levi even when he didn’t believe Levi was ever alive? If anything his tender nature should be amplified.

Eren sighs hard in annoyance at his thoughts, and the sound has Levi’s eyes opening once more, looking oddly enchanting.

“It’s whatever,” he finally concedes, waving off the issue at hand. “You say you didn’t mean any harm and I believe you.” An unspoken _I guess_ hangs in the air, but it doesn’t need to be said.

Levi’s thin eyebrows furrow. “Are you sure?”

The words sound uncertain alone and Eren has to bite on his tongue to hold back a childish retort of, _What, do you want me to think differently?_

Obviously, Levi doesn’t.

His silver eyes are shining even brighter than before, and his previous stillness in an attempt to appear weak has disappeared. Now, Levi sits up straight and squirms, most likely in excitement.

“Yeah,” he answers.

“Does that mean you’ll keep me?”

Eren only registers the question after a long blink. “Oh,” he says smartly. “ I didn’t - I never thought about that. Wouldn’t you rather go free or something?”

Levi frowns. “I - I suppose I would. If it were possible.”

Eren tilts his head. “What do you mean by that? Can’t you just leave?”

Levi shakes his head. “It’s not that simple. I’m not a free being like you are, Eren.” Eren jumps a little, caught off guard by the sound of his name leaving Levi’s mouth so effortlessly. As if he’s been singing the same song for years now. “I’m bound, by the will of my creator. It’s the only way I’ll survive the way I am.”

“I don’t understand… What exactly is your creator’s will and what does it have to do with me?”

“The one who holds me by purchase, is the one I’m inclined to serve. Unless that person passes me on to someone else, and then I will follow their will.”

“Then why don’t you just find another owner? Someone who lets you move about as you like?”

Levi doesn’t fail to notice how Eren doesn’t call himself that person, and his frown deepens. “It’s not possible. In order for me to function properly, I require an active owner. Someone who provides me with enough love and care. It’s the only way that I can enter this form.”

Eren goes silent, and with the suddenness of it, he realizes that in order for Levi to be here right now… talking to him like this… He had provided him with care and love…

The tips of Eren’s ears redden and he averts his gaze to the floor.

“Ah, I see,” he replies. “So want do you want to do about this?”

“If it were possible, I’d like for you to remain my owner. You’ve probably been the best one I’ve had in a long time. And people like you are rare. I wouldn’t give up the chance to stay unless I had to.”

Eren wonders if it’s just him or if his breath is really picking up. Feeling embarrassed by the indirect compliment, Eren has to resist the urge to hide his face behind his hands. He forces himself to look up at Levi.

“I’m not sure how it’d work… you being around like that,” he gestures at Levi’s form, “when I have my family all around and my friends coming over sometimes…”

Levi is quick to quell his worries. “I can change back to my natural state at anytime you want me to. I’ll try my hardest to not be a bother to you.”

Eren studies him and then nods his head. “Okay, but what about the rumors of you killing your owners? Is that true?”

“Not at all. I’m more of a companion than a murderer.”

Eren laughs when he realizes that Levi is trying to crack a joke, but he can’t help but ask, “Does that mean there is a part of you that is a little murderous after all?”

Levi shrugs. “I don’t know.”

And then even as fear still finds itself twisting about in his gut, Eren can’t help but say yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuses. But I do at least have a general idea of where this is going and I do plan to update this again soon since I have an update schedule in general now. At least one story will be updated bi-weekly. Sometimes earlier if I manage to get it done soon. 
> 
> I adore comments, so please leave one if you enjoyed, want to review the story, or just say something you'd like to see in the future! Thanks!


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